Clutch for oscillating fans



I y 2 G. J. REISCH ETAL 2,59

CLUTCH FOR OSCILLATING FANS Filed 001;. 26, 1950 1. V I l -mwilmlwrzInventor's:

George J. Reisch,

William K. Skol-Field,

Their Att or-rwey.

Patented May 20, 1952 UNITE.

CLUTCH FOR OSCILLATING FANS George J. Reisch, Devon, and William K.81:01-

field, Bridgeport, Conn., assignors to General Electric Company, acorporation of New York Application October 26, 1950, Serial No. 192,272

3. Claims.

This invention relates to household fans of the oscillating type and, inparticular, to a new and improved clutch therefor.

By clutch is meant a device that engages or disengages a fan from amechanism capable of cyclically oscillating the fan periodically througha prefixed angle.

While oscillating fans are well known in the art and while they have adistinct purpose in circulating the air within a room, it is desirable,under some circumstances, to stop the cyclic oscillation of a fan and toposition it in such a manner that it will force an air stream in but onedirection.

It is an object of this invention, then, to provide a new and improvedclutch for an oscillating fan.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a new and improvedclutch that is simple in installation and in operation.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a new andimproved clutch that is readily adaptable to existing oscillating fansof a particular type.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a new andimproved clutch for an oscillating fan that is durable and simple inoperation.

Further objectsand advantages of this invention will become apparent andthe invention will be more clearly understood from the followingdescription referring to the accompanying drawing, and the features ofnovelty which characterize this invention will be pointed out withparticularity in the claims annexed to and forming a, part of thisspecification.

Briefly, this invention comprises the combination of a swivel stud,sleeve bearing, and a fan housing, all in concentric axial alignment andsupported on a fixed stand. The fan housing and the swivel stud are sointerconnected by a clutch that the oscillation of the fan housing isdependent upon a fixed position of the swivel stud. The clutch looks orfrees the swivel stud and thus controls the oscillation of the fan.

For a more complete understanding of the application of this clutch toan oscillating fan, reference is made to a copending application,

Serial No. 59,347, filed November 13, 1948 and assigned to the sameassignee as the present application.

Referring to the drawing, Fig. 1 is a side View, partly in section, ofan oscillating fan such as that described in the subject copendingapplication provided with the new and improved clutch;

2 Fig. 2 is a cut-away plan view showing the oscillating mechanism; Fig.3 is a bottom view of the clutch and the support stand for the fan; andFig. 4 is a front view, partly in section, showing the clutch andoscillating fan mounted on the support stand.

In the drawing, a swivel stud or shaft I is shown mounted within swivelbearing 2, which, in turn, is within a protrusion 3 on fan housing 4.Each of these elements is concentrically positioned in bearing fit toprovide for movement one relative to the other.

The oscillating mechanism of the fan is shown in Fig. 2, wherein a stud5 is fixedly secured within the fan housing 4. A gear ii is mounted onshaft 5 to rotate in response to the rotation of a driven shaft 1powered by a fan motor (not shown). A worm 8 is cut on shaft 1 and is inengagement with a gear 9 that is secured to and rotatable on a shaft I0.A gear II is fixedly secured to and rotatable with gear 9. Gear II, inturn, drives gear 6.

A pin I2 is positioned on gear 6 at a convenient distance from thecenter thereof. A drag link I3 is mounted on pin I2 and secured by ahinge pin I4 to a link I5 fixedly supported by swivel stud I.

The rotation of gear 6, because of the linkage described, causes hingepin I4 to oscillate through an are as pin I2 revolves about shaft 5. Ifswivel stud I is fixed, however, then hinge pin I4 is also fixed;consequently, shaft 5 must oscillate through an are if pin I2 is torotate with ear 5 about shaft 5. Since shaft 5 is fixed in the fanhousing 4, the housing oscillates when swivel stud I is fixed.

The present invention is directed to a device that will control themovement of swivel stud I. That is, to a clutch I6 which, when engaged,locks swivel stud I, thus causing fan housing 4 to oscillate as abovedescribed; or, when disengaged, permits the oscillation of swivel stud lthereby to stop the oscillation of the fan housing.

Before going into the details of the clutch, however, it is necessary tounderstand the supporting structure for the fan housing 4, the swivelstud I, and the protrusion 3. Specifically, the swivel stud I and thefan housing 4 are supported on a stand I! having an aperture Ila inwhich is secured swivel bearing 2, around which gear case 4 oscillatesand through which the swivel stud I is passed to be secured to theswivel bearing 2 by means of an acorn nut I8. A thrust bearing I9, abearing plate 20, and a grease seal 3 2| position housing 4 for rotationrelative to the stand H.

To facilitate the assembly of this structure, swivel stud I is providedwith slots 22 which correspond to slots 23 provided in the swivelbearing. Each of the slots is formed by removing a portion of each oftwo opposite sides of the swivel stud and the swivel bearing to providetwo eX- posed flat sides on the swivel stud. Swivel stud I and bearing 2each have a portion that extends below their respective slots and, inaddition, swivel stud I has a threaded portion 24 engageable with acornnut I8. A cup fitting 25 is assembled on stud I between the stud andacorn nut I8 to retain stud I in engagement with swivel bearing 2.

Clutch It comprises a bottom portion 2% having an extended hook-likeportion 21 and a pair of side portions 28 and 29. The side portions 28and 29 are spaced apart to slidably engage stand H and they are eachfurther provided with an inwardly directed bend 30 and 3 I,respectively, substantially parallelto the bottom portion 26. Thecombination of the inwardbend 3%,. side 28 and bottom 26 and thecombination of inward bend 3|, side 29 and bottom 26 form channels toguide the movement of clutch IE along the support stand H.

A keyhole slot 32 is cut or otherwise formed in the bottom portionZfi oflatch [6. This keyhole slot 32 comprises a circular. opening 33 and anelongated opening 34.. The circular opening 33 is of a diametersufiicient to allow the swivel stud I to pass freely therethrough, whilethe slotted portion 34 is so contructed as to be of the width sufiicientto engage. the slotted. sides of swivel stud I. Specifically, when theelongated opening 34 is placed in slidable engagement with the flatportions of swivel stud I, the stud is prevented from rotating relativeto swivel bearing 2 and the stand II. H

To facilitate the movement of clutch I6 from the slotted position ofengagement to the circular position, the hook portion 2'! is providedfor a gripping means to manually move this latch back and forth toeither of the desired positions.

To facilitate the positioning of clutch I8'rela tive to stand I1 andswivel stud I, a male indent portion 35 is provided in either side 28 or29 of the clutch I6, and a corresponding female indent portion 33 isprovided in the stand Ii. With this structure, when male indent 35engages female indent 36, the position of the latch relative to thestand is fixed to the degree that the fan vibrations will not move thelatch along the stand. f

While no particular configuration is intended as the limitation for theshape of fan housing protrusion 3, it has been foundin a preferredembodiment that if a number of sides are chamfered where fan housingprotrusion 3 is adjacent support I1, that a pair of fingers 31 and 33,one on each side of the clutch I6, can engage the chamfered side on thefanhousing protrusion 3A of the keyhole opening 32- is in engagementwith the fiat surfaces of swivel stud I, but that they do engage the fanhousing when the circular portion 33 of keyhole opening 32 surrounds theV swivel stud I.

With this structure, it ispossible to position the fan housingin any ofseveral predetermined positions when swivel stud I is surrounded by thecircular opening 33 and fingers 31, 38 engage the chamfered sides of thefan housing.

Clutch I6 is slidable to permit the engagement of either elongatedopening 34 or circular opening 33 with the swivel stud I. When theelongated opening 34 is in engagement with swivel stud I, the swivelstud is fixed relative to the stand; consequently, the fan housingthrough the linkage arrangement above described is forced to oscillatethrough a prefixed angle. On the other hand, if clutch I6 is moved topermit circular opening 33 to surround swivel stud I, then the swivelstud is not fixed and can rotate itself, whereupon the fan housingremains in any fixed position, due to the gripping action of fingers 31,38.

Modifications of this invention will occur to those skilled in the artand it is desired to be understood, therefore, that this invention isnot to be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed, but that theappended claims are meant to cover all the modifications which arewithin the spirit and scope of this invention.

What we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of theUnited States is: y

1. In an oscillating fan having "a supporting stand, a fan housing, adriving motor within said housing, a driving shaft driven by said motor,and an oscillating mechanism responsive to the operation of said shaftto oscillate said fan housing through a predetermined angle including aswivel stud rotatably supporting said fan housing on said stand androtatable both with respect to said housing and said stand, and adriving connection between said swivel stud andshaft to effectoscillation of said stud with respect to said stand, thereby to effectoscillation of said fan housing on said stand when said stud is lockedfrom oscillation and to free said housing from oscillation when saidstud is freed to'oscillate, and means for locking and releasing saidswivel stud to produce and stop the oscillation of said fan comprising aclutch in slidable engagement with said supporting stand, said'clutchdefining a keyhole slot formed by a'circular opening and ajuxtapositioned elongated opening, either of which is engageable withsaid swivel stud, said swivel stud having a pair of oppositely disposedfiat surfaces formed thereon'to be engageable with said elongatedopening, said swivel stud being free to oscillate when said circularopening; of said keyhole slot engages said shaft,

said swivel stud being lockedto said stand when said elongated openingengages said fiat surface on said swivel stud to prevent rotationthereof and to produce an'os'cillatory movement of said fan.

2. In an oscillating fan' having a supporting .releasing said swivelstud to produce and stop the. oscillation of said fan comprising aclutch in slidable engagement with s'aid supporting stand,

said clutch definin a keyhole slot formed by a circular opening and ajuxtapositioned elongated opening, either of which is engageable withsaid swivel stud, said swivel stud having a pair of oppositely disposedfiat surfaces formed thereon to be engageable with said elongated openinsaid swivel stud being free to oscillate when said circular opening ofsaid keyhole slot engages said shaft, said swivel stud being locked tosaid stand when said elongated openin engages said fiat surface on saidswivel stud to prevent rotation thereof and to produce an oscillatorymovement of said fan.

3. In an oscillating fan having a supporting stand, a housing, a drivingmotor, a driving shaft, and an oscillating mechanism responsive to theoperation of said fan motor to cyclically turn said fan through apredetermined angle, including a gear driven by said driving shaft, apin located on said gear at a fixed distance from the center thereof, aswivel stud for supporting said fan on said supporting stand, and alinkage system joining said pin with said swivel stud, said gear andsaid linkage producing oscillations of said fan only when said swivelstud is locked to said supporting stand, clutch means for locking andreleasing said swivel stud to produce and stop the oscillation of saidfan comprising a plate having a pair of channels one on either side ofsaid plate, said channels being engageable with said supporting stand toslidably position said clutch plate to either of two positions, saidclutch plate defining a keyhole slot formed by a circular open-- ing anda juxtapositioned elongated opening one of which is engageable with saidswivel stud in either of the positions of said clutch plate, said swivelstud having a pair of oppositely disposed flat surfaces formed thereonto be engageable with said elongated opening, said swivel stud beingfree to oscillate when said circular opening of said keyhole engagessaid swivel stud, said swivel stud being locked to said stand when saidelongated opening of said clutch plate engages said fiat surfaces ofsaid swivel stud to prevent rotation thereof and to produce oscillatingmovement of said fan, a pair of resilient finger positioned one on eachof said channels to engage said fan housing when said circular openingsof said clutch plate engages said swivel stud to position said fan in apredetermined direction.

GEORGE J. REISCH, WM. K. SKOLFIELD.

No references cited.

